Members of the Cairine Wilson Wildcats raise
the championhip trophy after beating the Brookfield
Blues in the NCSSAA Tier 2 basketball final.
Fred Sherwin/Photo

The
Cairine Wilson Wildcats came through in the clutch on
Wednesday to win the Tier 2 senior boys basketball championship
and finish the season a perfect 12-0.

The
Wildcats had to sustain a late charge by the Blues, who
led by as much as five points late in the fourth quarter,
but ultimately prevailed thanks to the free throw shooting
of Thomas Aufleger who also added a well-timed three point
basket with 1:32 left in the game.

The
Wildcats scored the first five points of the game before
the Blues started making some shots and knotted the score
at 8-8 by the end of the first quarter.

After
the Blues took a brief lead in the second stanza, the
Wildcats went on a 9-1 run, sparked by a three-point shot
by Kendal Valery and a pair of two-point buckets by Calum
Jeacle, to go up 17-11.

The
Blues were able to close the gap once again on a pair
of three-pointers by Austin Rapinda, but back-to-back
three-pointers by Valery and Will Jackson Monroe allowed
the Wildcats to reestablish a five point advantage by
the end of the first half.

Brookfield
came out of the halftime break and went on an 8-2 run
to start to briefly take the lead up 28-27 before Cairine
Wilson responded with back-to- back baskets by Josh Davison
and Jeacle. By the start of the fourth quarter the Wildcats
enjoyed a two point lead up 34-32.

Things
began to unravel for the Wildcats in the fourth stanza
as the Blues opened the quarter with a mini 9-2 run to
go up by five. The Wildcats were able to respond once
again with six unanswered poins to retake the lead, but
only briefly as Brrokfield found a way to battle back
on a pair of baskets by Joey Fucso and Noah Foster, the
second one for three points to go up by four with three
minutes left in the game.

Down
by four, the Wildcats roared back with an 8-0 run to turn
the tables on their opponents and with a 1:32 left they
led by four. The Blues tried to mitigate the damage with
a three-point bsket by Anil Subasioglu to cut the Wildcats
lead to 50-49, but Aufleger would put the game out of
reach by goin three for four from the free throw line
in the final minute.

After
the game Aufleger talked about how he handled the pressure
on the free throw line.

"When
I got on the line I got into a rhythm and nothing else
went through my head except make those free throws,"
said Aufleger. "It was a tough game. It came down
to the wire but we managed to pull it out."

Aufleger
ended the game with 10 points. Davison led the Wildcats
with 11 points, and Jeacle added 10 points of his own.